EU planning to add to $1.5 trillion sanctions hit on Russia

The European Union is seeking to boost a $1.5 trillion hit on Russia’s economy by widening its sanctions web.

The bloc is weighing new restrictions on another 80 entities and individuals supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters on Monday in Cyprus, following an informal meeting of EU defence ministers.

Eighty new designations targeting Russia’s “military industrial complex, human rights violators and propagandists” have been proposed, Kallas said.

“Putin is losing money, men and momentum,” Kallas said, noting that Western sanctions have already cost Russia an estimated $1.2 to $1.5 trillion. “That is precisely why Russia is escalating its attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”

“Brick by brick, we are collapsing the foundations of Russia’s war economy.”

The ministers’ meeting also discussed the future of a previously contested 6.6-billion-euro ($7.6-billion) fund intended to reimburse countries for arms supplied to Ukraine.

Hungary, in its latest climbdown since Prime Minister Peter Magyar replaced Viktor Orban – a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin – in April, has told its fellow EU members that it will drop its long-held opposition to the fund.

Kallas has proposed that the funds should be used not only to reimburse member states for past weapons deliveries but also to finance joint weapons procurements and EU military assistance.